Maria Hollis, 30, was in labour and racing to hospital when cars came to a halt in a heavy snow blizzard on Tuesday, January 5.

Amazingly, her husband Kevin, who thought he would have to deliver the baby in the back of their car, managed to flag down a passing ambulance.

Kevin, 31, said: "The hospital is only 10 minutes away but it took 45 minutes to get 200 metres. In that time, my wife was starting to push.

"I called 999 with the hands-free and I was told to pull over and let Maria push."

When the contractions became constant, the woman on the phone told Maria to lie down in the back of the car.

"I didn't want to do that," Maria says. "It made me think, I'm actually going to have to give birth in the car."

As they prepared to deliver the baby, Kevin saw an ambulance and flagged it down. He said: "Maria was helped inside alongside a man who'd had an asthma attack. He was a bit shocked but he was great."

Maria added: "I think your body just takes over. I was thinking about the pain I was in, leaving the worrying to Kev. Afterwards, looking back, we keep laughing. I could see all the snow coming in the car while it was happening. It was surreal."

The ambulance negotiated the traffic but Maria gave birth to a baby girl, Maggie, minutes before pulling into Arrowe Park Hospital, Cheshire.

The couple, who take regular caravan holidays in Denbighshire and visit relatives in Flint have sons William, four, and Harry, one, and went home to the Wirral hours after the birth of their healthy 8lb 4oz baby on Tuesday.

"We regularly visit Kev's relatives, Aunt Carol and Uncle Jon, who live in Flint and my mum and dad have a caravan in Denbigh which is like our second home," said new mum Maria.

Paramedic Carys Pattinson said: "It's always a privilege to deliver a baby but I was so pleased we were there to help in such a stressful and difficult situation."